A Quick Whirl Around the Fracking World: 11 Dec 2014

*Worldwide. At the UN Conference in Lima, Catholic bishops from “Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe” say “it’s the poorest people who are impacted the most, despite the fact they’ve contributed the least to causing [climate change]. They’re the ones who respect the planet, the Earth, the soil, the water and the rainforests.” The bishops called for a 1.5C ceiling in global temperature rise, an end to reliance on fossil fuels and “the need for a new financial and economic order” since the current one has “failed to put the human being and the common good at the heart of the economy”. And where were the North American bishops?

*USA. Is there a “secretive alliance” between a number of states’ attorneys general and the oil and gas industry? Industry lawyers write up material for AGs to incorporate into official documents. Some $16 million in political contributions help ensure access and accommodation. Government agencies are the target (EPA, Immigration, etc.). And don’t miss the part about Andrew P. Miller.

*USA. Those who drill wells and fracture rock to get at earth’s oil and gas might “have to lower prices by as much as 20 percent to help keep their cash-strapped customers working.” Overall estimate of their profit loss is $3 billion, in 2015 alone.

*CA. Union Pacific has acknowledged “transporting full trains of Canadian oil through Northern California on a route that likely cuts through central Sacramento.” And then there’s this: “The Canadian imports are the second set of all-oil trains now believed to be coming through the capital on a regular basis.” “Several more trains may join them in the next year.” [Emphases added] So, CA residents—like many others elsewhere—are kept largely in the dark about the dangers rolling down the tracks. Who’s protecting whom, and for what?

*IA. Dakota Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (Canadian Pacific subsidiary) has agreed to a $625,000 settlement—without admitting wrongdoing—following inadequate clean-up of “a 2008 oil spill [4,400 gallons of diesel and other petroleum products] that damaged the shoreline and aquatic life in the Mississippi RIver between Iowa and Wisconsin.”

*NC.Fracking safety rules were produced by the state’s Mining and Energy Commission, members of which dutifully submitted disclosure forms to the State Ethics Commission which just didn’t have the time to review all those disclosure forms before the Mining and Energy Commission finished its work.

*NJ. Taking a page from Canada’s latest pipeline script (see “Canada” below), Gov Chris Christie (R) says the Keystone XL pipeline would “‘strengthen’ North America and should be approved without any environmental stipulations.” So, don your red-white-and-blue and maple leaf and go out there and demand you some pipeline!

*PA. House Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D)’s “investigation into the way states regulate the disposal of the often toxic waste generated during the fracking of oil and gas” is being extended to include Ohio and West Virginia, which not only dispose of their own fracking waste but also take in waste from other states (such as PA).

*PA. Frac sand workers “who breathe the fine-grained dust day after day risk developing ‘silicosis’, or eventually, lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis and other airway diseases.” That’s from the US Occupation Safety and Health Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Toxicology Program. PA just might study the air around frac sand facilities in the state to measure impact on air quality.

*Canada.TransCanada’s proposed $12 billion Energy East pipeline is, in Premiers patriot speak, a “nation-building exercise”, and is part of a package of pipelines without which Canadians will “feel the pain”. Altogether, they want to send 1.1 million barrels of Alberta tarsands’ finest product eastward to Quebec and New Brunswick—about 4600 kilometers/2858 miles, along which much can happen.

*Ecuador. Funds for schools and police stations will be cut, but oil investments and hydroelectric dam building will continue as President Correa confronts a budgetary crisis. Crude oil constitutes about 1/3 of the country’s annual budget so things are not looking good.